Chicago politics
Sen. Barack Obama being the hometown man in a presidential election, Chicago style politics, and analysis, plays an interesting role in this campaign season.
First, there’s this piece from the Chicago Tribune the other day saying, okay, there’s been plenty of focus on Obama’s race.
But Americans also have never sent a Chicagoan to the White House, and one intriguing question posed by his candidacy is whether they are ready to now.
After all, this is a very proud city. Or….is pride the gist here?
For all his talk about change, Obama remains a product of a Chicago and Illinois political culture renowned for corruption and filled with characters who range from felonious to just outrageous.
The piece goes back and forth on Obama’s political relations in Chicago, but the central point is that being a Democrat from Chicago will figure in to the campaigning ahead.
Obama’s status as a Chicago politician carries with it risks, said James Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University in Washington. “It is the place to learn about politics, but it is also a running joke about the machines of the past. That can hurt him.”
However…
David Axelrod, Obama’s top strategist, has advised many Chicago politicians, including the current mayor. He said he does not believe a “guilt by association” strategy will work against Obama.
Axelrod, as his top strategist, has to say that. After all, he’s a big part of the association with Chicago politics.
Meanwhile, feisty Tribune columnist John Kass comes out today with this column that tries to help readers understand the Obama reversal on campaign finance and what it means.
So a Chicago politician tosses all his reformist talk about adhering to publicly financed campaigns in order to keep the cynics from our politics. Then he brushes off the $85 million in public financing, and reaches out for all that private political cash bundled with help from the guys behind the guys and calls it good government.
It’s the Chicago Way. I’ve been telling you for almost two years that Chicago isn’t Camelot. Do you believe me now?
Yes, but it’s got a style – and plenty of movies – of its own. Which is playing right now, in fact.
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Obama’s connection to Chicago politics could ultimately be his undoing. We have already seen the sloppiness of his unscrutinized associations with the “in” crowd–Ayers, Wright, Pfleger, and Rezko. There was no downside to his association with this cast of characters because, well, this is Chicago. In fact he wore these associations like a badge of honor on his rise through the ranks.
And we cannot fail to mention his association with Jesse Jackson, who the other day put into words what most of us would expect from an Obama presidency. Jesse said the “change” will be a “sea change.” Exactly. Will the country throw caution to the wind and put in our lot with the most liberal senator in memory? Reason tells us there is a good chance that as the issues become more clearly defined most of the country will decide to go with the one candidate that offers a known quantity.